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Friday, 26 September 2014

Book: A Rose Has Thorns by G L Ross

I received a copy of A Rose Has Thorns in exchange for my review.

Leslie has just moved to Birmingham with the interior design company that she works for, and is happy to fall back in with Rhonda, a good friend from college. While out one night, Leslie and Rhonda meet two handsome ranchers, Graham and Jack. Though Rhonda and Jack hit it off right away, Leslie is more reserved around men, so even though Graham makes it clear that he is interested in her, she doesn't act on things too quickly. Though even Leslie can't deny the attraction she has for the man, and she finds herself drawn to him yet again, finally agreeing to let him take her home. But there's one thing that Leslie can't stand, and that's a liar, what if Graham hasn't been telling the truth?

A Rose Has Thorns drew me right into the story, as a good novella should. There was some scene setting, and some hints at a potentially dark background, the majority of the story was focused on the characters and their interactions. In this case I thought that the author managed to capture the drama between the characters well without having to introduce dramatic situations (meaning there's no kidnapping or the like) which is definitely a skill.

I really thought that I got a feel for Leslie's hesitation in the book, she was nervous about men in general and that did come across. Even better she didn't just jump into bed with Graham, in fact she didn't even jump in for a kiss, which was in line with her character and made her much more believable at that. Graham also showed a great deal of restraint around her, which definitely made me respect him as a character.

Talking of the drama above, I'm still reeling a bit from the ending of A Rose Has Thorns. Definitely not how I was expecting that to go up until the last scene (though baring in mind Leslie's thoughts at that point it makes perfect sense) and I find I have so many questions about the whole thing, mainly why, but there are some other questions too. It's safe to say that Ross is the Queen of dramatic endings (after all the ending to Turbulent Passion was no less dramatic than this one!)

I really enjoyed A Rose Has Thorns, and am excited to see what happens next in the series, and not just because of the dramatic ending! Oh also worth mentioning that I enjoyed the tiny bit of tie in to Ross' other series, Flyboy! I love it when series collide!